Transformation & Infatuation
by EdwardCorvin17
Summary: When Edward meets a mysterious young girl and is faced with the decision of saving her or letting her die, he unknowingly turns her. As a newly turned vampire, Bella is confused and alone, and is searching for the mysterious angel that saved her.
1. Crash

Chapter One

Bella's POV

I really, really hate airplanes. Although I'd love to travel outside of the country again, I'm not sure whether I can handle any more flights.

"Hey, Bella, are you alright? You look a little green," said Carrie worriedly. We had only known each other for a few months, but she was the closest thing to a best friend that I had.

"Yeah, uh, I'm fine. I'm just finding it a little hard to enjoy the view." As I said this I glanced out the window at the clouds, only to have my stomach lurch.

"Good afternoon. This is your pilot speaking. We are currently coasting along at 35,000 feet above the Mediterranean Sea, near the beautiful country of Italy, our destination. In a half hour or so, we'll begin our descent to the airport in Florence. Please buckle in, and remain seated until the plane comes to a complete stop." Oh, good. I think I can make it another fifteen or so minutes without upchucking.

I thought that watching our descent would continue to make me nauseous, so I pulled down the window shade. Then I felt a tap on my left shoulder, so I turned around to face the person who was trying to get my attention.

Shane, one of my classmates, starting talking to me, but I didn't hear a thing he said. A strangely beautiful, pale boy with tousled bronze hair caught my attention. I saw him reach into his pocket and pull out a slim, silver cell phone. He glanced at the caller, and then put it back into his pocket, looking terribly sad. As someone walked down the aisle past me, then toward him, he suddenly stiffened. His gaze met mine, and he looked—hungry?—for some reason. He gracefully rose to his feet, and started walking toward me. But he didn't take more than three steps before the plane began to shake violently.

It didn't feel like bad turbulence, but like the plane was being pulled apart. I could smell smoke, and hear people screaming from the back of the plane. I looked down, and could see the water getting closer and closer. The plane severely tilted downward, the water began to rush up much quicker. I could hear steel grinding, and bolts popping.

A voice came on overhead, statically speaking: "Please remain calm. Quickly put on your oxygen masks. Locate, remove, and put on your life vests. Hold on to anything you can, and prepare for impact," an automated voice said. Apparently we didn't have time to evacuate, because we were being prepared for the worst.

The cabin was in chaos. Children were screaming and crying. Parents were holding their children protectively, and attempting to put on their oxygen masks and life vests. I fumbled beneath my seat, and found my life vest. I tried to fasten it securely, but the plane was tilting at a dangerous angle. I grabbed at the oxygen mask hanging above me, and finally managed to snag it. I wrapped the elastic bands around my head, and looked frantically around to see if I could find Carrie.

I saw her lying face down in the aisle. I leaned over, and tried to flip her over. While trying to flip her onto her back, I realized that she wasn't breathing and that she had a huge gash in her head. I screamed, only to be thrown to the floor on top of her as the plane made a deep nose dive. I heard someone scream from the front of the plane, "We're gonna hit!" in panic. Groggily, I grabbed onto an armrest and prepared for impact.

We hit the water with a thunderous roar. I could feel the landing gear crumple beneath us. As the underside of the plane struck, I felt the horrific impact. It felt like being hit by a car, only a hundred times over. Water started pouring in through thousands of cracks in the body. But then I felt a heavy weight were I did not expect it: on my back.

I was roughly picked up and held securely in cold, hard arms. We were suddenly airborne, jumping over the debris inside the cabin and over the seats. Somehow, we broke though the side of the plane and were submerged in the water.


	2. Accident

Chapter Two

Edward's POV

I was suddenly pulled out of my depressed trance by the abrupt vibrations of my cell phone. It was Alice. There was no way that I could talk to Alice and keep from breaking down at the same time. My recent case of depression would not lift. Even the efforts of my family didn't help. Lately I'd been feeling more and more lonely, and I just couldn't stand seeing Esme and Carlisle so worried about me. I didn't deserve their love and affection. I just needed some alone time to figure things out.

Currently I was on a flight to Italy. I thought perhaps that by surrounding myself with other vampires, I may find a new perspective on my life. A flight attendant, smelling of coffee and peanuts, started walking down the aisle. She stopped to talk to a passenger near the front of the cabin, and then continued on past me. As she came past me, scents from the front of the cabin drifted back to me. A sharply intoxicating scent reached my nose. The only thing that could smell that good to me was human blood. But the scent of this blood was unlike any other humans' I had ever smelled before. As the smell hit me, all of my muscles contracted, preparing me for the attack. I gazed about, wildly searching for the source of the electrifying scent.

My eyes fell on a pale—almost as pale as me—girl with mahogany hair and chocolate brown eyes. She looked at me as though she was ill; her distress made her scent all the more potent. I tried to read her thoughts, but all I 'heard' was silence. Suddenly her eyes locked on mine, and I reflexively stood up. I knew that I shouldn't approach her, but I couldn't help myself. I took three long strides toward her, but I was abruptly thrown off balance. The plane started to tremble violently, shaking the cabin.

A rumble of confused and scared voices started up. I started 'listening' to the flight attendants and the pilots to see if I could 'hear' anything about what was going on. _What the hell? Everything was just fine! We haven't done anything wrong, and the plane was inspected before take-off!_ The pilot had no idea what was going on. _This doesn't feel good. I need to keep all the passengers calm. I should set up the automated emergency directions system…_The flight attendant had no idea about the situation, either. But then I picked up on a voice from the _back_ of the plane.

_Oh shit. I really hope I didn't…Oh jeez. I knew I shouldn't have drunk the __**whole**__ bottle of whiskey. But I did need it! And I could have sworn that nothing would happen! _His internal combat continued. _After the fight last night I had to drink myself into oblivion. And to cure the hangover this morning, I needed a bottle of whiskey…So I guess I was a little buzzed this morning during the last check of the engine…_Well, whatever he forgot to do was definitely going to cause the deaths of most of the passengers.

The plane started to nosedive, and then straightened out. People all around me were screaming and crying. The sound of the plane ripping itself apart would have been very loud to a human; to me it was deafening. I gritted my teeth and tried to concentrate on my surroundings.

The automated emergency directions system came on overhead and directed everyone to put on their oxygen masks and their life vests, and to prepare for impact.

A woman seated on the other side of the aisle called out to me, "Help! Please! I have two children and I don't have time—." I nodded and swiftly attached the life vest to the young boy closest to me. I reached up and put the oxygen mask over his face. He appeared to be the older of the two.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" he asked me seriously, with tears silently streaming down his cheeks.

The obvious answer was yes; no human was going to survive this. "Just close your eyes and hold on to your brother. This will all be over soon." The brave child nodded and clutched his hysterical younger brother's hand tightly.

I turned back around to the aisle and saw a body crumpled there. I had noticed her returning from the restrooms before the plane started to fall. The delicious-smelling girl was bent over her, trying to flip her over. Her efforts were wasted; the girl was already dead.

I could smell the blood on her friend before the girl screamed, then was unexpectedly thrown on top of her friend's body as the plane made its final plunge. She managed to reach up and grab a hold of an armrest. I tensed, ready to jump to the girl when the plane hit.

A swift glance out the window showed the sea fifty yards away…forty…twenty…ten…. There was a resounding crash as the plane hit the water. Almost all the windows shattered and the metal frame of the plane crumpled upon impact. Most of the passengers were now on the floor, either dead or gravely injured. I jumped and landed neatly on her back as water poured in through cracks created by the crash.

I wrapped my arms around her and propelled myself to the wall. With one hand I ripped a hole in the wall large enough for me to get out. As water came rushing in, I forced myself and the near-unconscious girl out of the sinking plane.

I looked over to see her lips turning blue from the lack of air. As she was about to inhale seawater, I did the only thing that I could at that point. I sealed my lips over hers', forcing the unused air from my lungs out through my mouth and into hers'.

Grabbing her securely, I rapidly kicked us away from the plane that was now nearly fifty feet below the surface. Though I tried to get to the surface as fast as possible, she still had run out of oxygen and inhaled water. It had filled her lungs, and her body was trembling.

By the time I reached the surface, she had stopped moving. I could just faintly hear her heartbeat. Desperate to save her, I tried to force the water out of her lungs. But my modified CPR was not doing her any good.

It had been nearly three weeks since I had last fed. Her electrifyingly sweet blood made the back of my throat burn with excess venom. I told myself that she could still survive, that my biting her would help no one. This thought kept me going for three more long, painful minutes.

The venom in my throat continued to build up, and I swallowed it back painfully. But I could feel the monster in me taking over. The water sloshed around me as I continued to try to get her to cough up all the seawater that she had inhaled. My grip tightened over her, and suddenly I was no longer in control.

My lips pulled back over my teeth in a snarl. My hands reached up and I savagely grabbed her neck and pulled her head to the side. My jaws opened, and I bit down on the jugular, letting the sweet, sweet blood cascade down my throat. I gulped down the hot blood, reveling in the forbidden taste that I had denied myself for over eighty years.

I felt her heartbeat become stronger, and I heard a faint moan. But I was in attack mode, and I was starving. My jaws retightened over her vein, causing a new wave of blood to spurt into my mouth.

As I swallowed yet again, an imaged flashed behind my eyes. Esme. She would never approve of this. I was _taking a mortal's life_. I released her and pulled away, reaching a hand back to wipe my mouth. My hand came back covered in blood. _Human blood_. Another imaged flashed behind my eyes: Carlisle: my supporting, caring, pure father. And then I saw an image of my siblings. Emmett: my burly, protecting brother. Rosalie: my vain, stubborn sister. Alice: my small, bubbly sister. And Jasper: my tall, newest brother, always struggling to conform to the vegetarian way of life. How could I betray my family?

I pushed the girl's limp body away in disgust. What was I thinking? How could I ever ask my family for forgiveness? I listened briefly for a pulse and heard nothing. I sighed. What was done was done.

As I was turning away to swim to shore, I saw a square-ish object. I picked it up out of the water. It was a passport, the girl's passport. "Isabella Marie Swan," it read. Now I had a name to match the face of the girl that I had needlessly murdered. I was the cause of the pain that her parents, Reneé and Charlie, whose names were on the passport, would feel. I shook my head, disgusted in myself.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't save you. You really deserved much better," I murmured over the body. "Bella," I said her name softly, full of grief. "Make a safe journey." I laid a kiss on her forehead, dove beneath the surface, and swam towards the shore.


	3. Alive but Dead

Chapter Three

Bella's POV

I was pulled from unconsciousness into a fiery haze of pain. It started at my neck and spread outward to the tips of my limbs, consuming every fiber of my being. I was aware that something was very wrong, but nothing mattered but the pain.

I struggled to open my eyes. All around me was water, filled with floating debris from the crash. Floating next to me was a life vest and a partially inflated raft. Through my haze, I had the presence of mind to struggle into the vest and crawl onto the raft.

Somehow I was mercifully alive. But this didn't feel like life. It felt like death.

Three days later…

One minute my mind was unfocused, clouded by terrifying agony burning through my veins. The next, I was suddenly aware of everything.

My eyes flashed open and all I could see was white. Was that the light that was associated with heaven? Should I go towards it? When I realized that it wasn't moving and neither was I, I noticed that there was something covering my face. I reached up and pulled back the top of a white sheet. After a few seconds, I realized that it was completely dark. How the hell could I see anything in this utter darkness?

I glanced down at myself. The only thing I was wearing was this white sheet. I was definitely not at home; I'd never slept in just a sheet. Then I tried to sit up, only to hit my head hard enough against a metal ceiling to dent it. The funny thing was that I didn't feel any pain at all.

I wiggled my feet and felt them brush against another smooth, cool surface. Where was I? I definitely wasn't in the middle of the Mediterranean anymore. Finally the realization hit that I was in a tiny metal box. With no effort, I kicked out at the surface my feet had touched and it gave way without any resistance.

I slid out of the box I was enclosed in, gathering the white sheet around me. I was standing in a sterile smelling room. The tile beneath my feet was a nondescript gray color. A steel table was in the middle of the room in front of me. I glanced behind me to see where I had come from. It was a wall covered in two rows of silver doors. Mine was the only one open.

Suddenly it hit me: I was in a morgue. I knew from TV shows and movies that morgues were cold, but I didn't even have goose bumps. I would normally have been hyperventilating under these circumstances, but I wasn't even breathing. Actually, I didn't even feel the need to breathe in the first place. I would also probably have been panicking, but I remained eerily calm.

Sitting on a counter to my right were plastic bags full of clothing and personal items. Even though I wasn't normally a thief, these were not normal circumstances. I was also pretty sure the previous owners of the clothes weren't going to need them any time in the near future. Not unless they rose as the undead.

I picked out a bag of female clothing that looked to be about my size. I had the clothes out of the bag and was fully dressed in, according to the clock on the wall, less than ten seconds. This was really weird because I normally had trouble just getting the shirt over my head.

On the table was a stack of files with pictures clipped to the front. On top of the pile there was a picture of me attached to the first file. But I didn't look like myself at all.

All my features had been enhanced to the point where it looked like I belonged on the cover of a fashion magazine. I couldn't believe that I had thought my name and fashion in the same sentence. I usually thought of myself as being pretty plain, but in that picture I truly looked beautiful.

It wasn't just my features that had changed. My skin was deathly pale. I looked like Snow White minus the seven dwarves.

Flipping open the file, I found a medical examiner's notes on how I had died. I was over 100 percent sure I wasn't dead due to the fact that I was physically standing and looking at the file. I pinched myself just to be sure. I felt it, but without any sense of pressure that I had expected.

Super speed, super strength, and the ability to not have to breathe. What was next?

I read the first of two pages in my file.

"Jane Doe was found in Mediterranean Sea at twenty hundred hours. She is expected to be a victim of the plane crash that occurred almost three days ago.

Patient was found semi-conscious and in pain. Source of pain was never discovered. Morphine delivery was attempted, but needle would not puncture skin.

Arrived at hospital at twenty-two hundred hours, an estimated two and a half days after the plane crash. Patient was rushed to the ER and was given x-rays to determine the cause of the pain. Scans revealed no internal damage. Patient was kept in the ICU to monitor her condition. Again, morphine delivery was attempted, but the needle would not puncture.

At seven hundred hours the next morning patient died in cardiac arrest. Resuscitation was attempted, but failed. Body was transferred to the morgue for autopsy."

The next page was the coroner's report.

"Jane Doe was delivered at seven fifteen this morning. Body temperature was eighty degrees, yet she had only been dead for a half hour. Y-incision was attempted, but blade could not break skin. Body was moved to drawer 3 for further study."

Well, according to this report, my heart wasn't beating. I stopped and searched for a heartbeat at my neck and wrist. Sure enough, I couldn't find my pulse.

The situation came crashing down on me. I was technically dead. I had no pulse. I didn't have to breathe. My body temperature was way below normal. But here I was anyway, against everything the reports said, still alive.

I glanced at the other side of the table where I could see the shiny surface and gasped at what I saw. My eyes, usually chocolate-brown, were blood-red. The rest of my face was the deathly pale color that it had been in the picture on the file. The strangely beautiful features started back at me. What kind of freak had I become?

**A/N: Please read & review, thanks!**


	4. Edward's Offering

Edward's POV

I can't ask for their forgiveness, but I can try to make life a little easier for them. That's the least I can do for killing their daughter.

After the crash, I swam back to mainland France, cleaned myself up, and caught a flight from Marseilles to New York, where I had originally flown from. After landing, I picked up my silver Volvo from where I parked it and started the drive to Phoenix, Arizona. That was where the girl had lived.

It took me just about a day and a half to get to Phoenix. As I got to the outskirts of the city I checked the girl's--Bella's--passport for an address. Her house wasn't very far from where I was, according to my GPS system. It took another five minutes for me to reach her street.

I parked on the other side of the street and walked over to stand beside the house. From there, I could hear a heartrending conversation.

"Phil...I haven't heard from her yet. And...and...look at the paper!" Renee was in hysterics. "If she was alive, she would have called!"

"Honey, calm down. If--." He was cut off as the phone rang. "Let me get it, Renee."

"Hello?" he answered the phone.

"Sir? Is this the Dwyer residence?" a male voice asked.

"Yes, this is Phil Dwyer. How can I help you?"

"My name is Shane Danvers, and I work at the American embassy in Marseilles, France. We were called to the scene of the crash of the American flight number 666 yesterday. I'm sorry, Sir, but your daughter, Isabella Swan, was on that flight to Florence. Her remains have not yet been found. Again, I am so sorry for your loss."

"My God," Phil whispered in disbelief.

"Oh no! She's dead, isn't she? No...no...no...no...." Renee cried hysterically.

All this misery.... All my fault.... If I could cry, I would have. I could never bring their daughter back. The least I could do would be to pay for her funeral.

I went back into my car and pulled my checkbook out of the glove compartment. I wrote a check for $15,000 from my false identity's bank account. I sealed the check in an envelope, got out of my car, and put the envelope into their mailbox. Now I had to face my family.


	5. Getting Home

Bella's POV

I knew I had to leave the morgue quickly. The clock said the time was 12:45—lunch time. If I hurried, I could get out of there before the search for the missing corpse started.

A fire evacuation plan was taped to the door. I quickly glanced at it to find the most discreet way out of here. A fire escape. All I had to do was climb up four flights of stairs. Not _too_ physically taxing, but with my track record for falling on stairs….

Looking out the window in the door, I didn't see anyone. I pictured the fire escape map in my head…and found that I could see a crystal-clear image of it in my head. Whoa. Photographic memory!

As I walked out of the doorway, I tripped on the doorjamb. I guess death didn't make me any more graceful. While sprawled out on my stomach, I smelled the most delicious scent. To accompany the smell, I heard a beautiful pulsing beat.

I somehow rose fluidly to my feet. An older man in a lab coat stood in front of me.

"Miss? Are you alright?" he asked me. I couldn't reply. I was mesmerized by how his blood vessels were _throbbing_ in time to the beautiful pulsing in my head. I licked my lips hungrily. I felt a feeling like an adrenaline rush, and my muscles readied to spring forward.

I tried to shake all of these confusing emotions and inclinations off. As I met his gaze for the first time, his expression changed from worry to fear.

"The st-t-t-airs are to y-your right. The m-main exit is u-up one f-f-floor," he stuttered, then turned and rushed off in the other direction. Seeing him run off, I was tempted to run him down and sink my--. What? What was I thinking? None of my thoughts or actions made sense anymore.

I turned to my right and pulled open the door to the stairwell. I ran up the stairs, and I was amazingly fast. I could also stumble amazingly fast.

I decided to go up to the roof and try to climb down the fire escape because the fewer people that saw me, the better. I reached the top landing and wrenched open the door, only to have the whole door be pulled off its hinges. I was holding the entire door, in one hand. With. No. Effort. All of this was just too freaky.

I gently set the door down and walked out onto the roof. Scanning the rooftop, I found the fire escape on the opposite side. I crossed the roof in less than a second, and lowered my feet to the top rung of the rusty ladder. I made it down five rungs before the ladder began to tremble. I tightened my left hand's grip on the ladder, only to have a piece of it break off and crumble in my hand. I gulped. This situation was going downhill fast.

I warily took another step down, but my foot broke through the rung. This threw me off balance, and I fell three-and-a-half stories off the side of the ladder. Falling through the air, I remembered all of my happy memories. Living with Renée. Vacations in California with Charlie. My few friends in Phoenix.

Then, just before I hit the ground, I remembered Carrie dying and then a beautiful boy--. The memory broke off as I hit the ground with a loud thud. I waited for the pain that was sure to come. But all I felt was the cool grass beneath my back. I had felt myself hit the ground, but there was no pain.

I gently sat up, checking myself for injuries. I stretched my arms, waiting for the stabbing shoot of pain that accompanies a freshly-broken bone. Nope, no pain. I then reached back to check the back of my head. My hand felt wet. In fact, my whole body felt wet. I brought my hand to my face, but it was not covered in blood. Only then did I realize that it was drizzling.

The sky was overcast, but I could see it clearing up along the western horizon. Ah, good. Sunny weather. I sighed, missing my mother and sunny Phoenix. The sooner I could get on a plane—I shuddered—or a boat, the sooner I could get home.

But this posed a problem: I didn't have any money. This definitely narrowed my options. I sighed in frustration. I picked myself up and began walking away from the hospital, towards the smell of the sea. I was crying in frustration, except I physically couldn't cry.

I cried dry tears as I walked away, trying to find a way back home.

**A/N: Thanks so much for reading and for the reviews! Please review again, the reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	6. Homecoming

**A/N: ****New poll up on profile! **

E-POV

_Edward. You're home,_ my father's relieved thoughts greeted me. _Esme's been so worried._ I sighed in disappointment. I had caused her unnecessary grief. _I'm in my study if you'd like to talk._ I got out of my Volvo and walked up the steps, entering my home.

Nothing had changed during my absence. No dust had accumulated on my piano. Another sign of my mother's devotion. I walked to my father's study, tracing my fingers along the familiar walls. _Please come in._

I gently pushed the door open, and walked in. "Would you care to take a seat?" he asked me. My eyes flashed to the comfortable leather chairs near his desk.

"I think I'd rather discuss this with the whole family," I said. For the first time, his eyes met mine, noticing their bright burgundy color. A look of shock passed behind his eyes, and then he gained control of his emotions. His face was once again calm and serene.

"Alright. I'll gather up the family while you clean up, okay?" I nodded in agreement. As I turned to walk out, he placed his hand on my shoulder. "We all love you, you know. What ever happened, we'll forgive you and give you help and advice, if you need it."

"Thanks, Dad, but I don't deserve your love or help." His gaze appeared troubled as I walked out into the hallway.

I grabbed a new set of clothes from my room, and then showered and changed mechanically. By the time I had finished, I could hear the thoughts of four of my family members coming from the living room downstairs.

Entering the living room, I was met with a great bear hug. "Edward!" Emmett called in glee as he squeezed me. "You're back!"

"Yes, Emmett, I'm back." Jasper must have felt my raging emotions of hated and despair because I suddenly felt calm. "Jasper," I said as I nodded in greeting and thanks.

"Oh, Edward!" Esme signed as she, too, hugged me. "Are you alright?" she asked me, worried.

"Yes, Mom. I—I'm fine." She looked up, startled by the odd tone of my voice. She gasped, noticing my now-red eyes.

"Edward? What's happened?" she asked, confused.

"What? What did I miss?" asked Emmett.

I sighed, then sat down. "Please sit down, everyone. I need to talk to you." It was then that I noticed my sisters' absence. "Alice and Rosalie?"

"Out hunting. They'll be home in a half hour," Carlisle explained. "Go ahead and tell us what happened." Esme, sitting beside me, rubbed my shoulder reassuringly.

"Whoa, Edward!" Emmett said, catching sight of my eyes.

"Yes. I know. Please, let me explain. You know I left, and you know why. My flight had a layover in JFK airport. From there we were going straight to Florence. About a half hour before we were supposed to land, I smelled this girl. And she smelled…she smelled better than any human I had ever smelled. Her scent was so strong that it took everything I had to not take her in front of all the other humans on the plane. Without realizing what I was even doing, I found myself walking toward her. I stopped and tried to get control of myself. As I did this, the plane suddenly started trembling and shaking horribly. Then everything turned into chaos.

Everyone was screaming and running. Some of the humans had fallen and were already unconscious. The plane was about to hit the water when I decided that I could not let the girl die. I had to try to save her, so I grabbed her and kicked out the wall and jumped into the water. I tried to save her, I really did." Jasper tried to calm my mounting hysteria, and Esme patted my back comfortingly.

"But I was too late. She was bleeding, and unconscious. I attempted CPR, but I made no progress. My venom kept building up in my throat. I tried to fight myself, but I…I went insane. I tried not to, but I found my jaws on her throat. Her blood…. It was delicious. But then I thought of you," I looked at my family, "and felt disgusted with myself. I couldn't hear her heartbeat, so I left. Her passport said her name was Bella Swan--."

"You idiot!" a voice shouted.

"Alice?!" Esme yelped in surprise.

"I can't believe you would do this! Especially to an innocent human girl!" Alice's face was contorted in rage.

"What do you think you're doing?" Carlisle thundered. "He feels guilty enough as it is, without you yelling at him!"

"No, it's fine. I'm sorry, Alice." I hung my head in shame.

"Wait a minute. Which part are you apologizing for? Not answering my call warning you that the plane was going to crash in a few minutes? Or are you apologizing for biting and then turning Bella, and then abandoning her?"

"I—wait, what?" I asked, surprised.

"'What' to which question?"

"She—she's alive?"

"Yes, you moron. Well, sort of. Alive in the undead sense. But no, you didn't permanently kill her."

"Well," Carlisle said. "This is certainly an unexpected change of events."

**A/N: ****The next chapter will be from Bella's POV. Should Bella kill someone (or a lot of people) because of her thirst, or should she stay relatively humanized and not kill anyone? **


	7. Leaving Naples

It took me about ten minutes to find the docks while following the scent of the ocean. From the signs that were posted, I finally discovered that I was in Naples, Italy. As I walked around, I noticed something funny. Everyone I passed stared at me. I don't mean just a passing glance. They full out gawked at me, almost as if they were frightened of me. This made me very uncomfortable, seeing as how I always tried to avoid being the center of attention. So, I did the only thing I could: I ignored their gazes.

But I couldn't ignore their voices. My hearing had radically improved. I assumed that that had happened for the same reason as all my other changes.

"Dude, I dare you to hit on _her_," I heard a male voice tell someone.

"No way! She's hot, but she's, like, scary looking!" his friend replied.

"Seriously, man. You're scared of a girl?!?"

"No! I didn't say that! She's just…intimidating!"

"Whatever. You'll never live this down. Scared of a girl," he muttered.

"Fine, fine. I'll talk to her." Up until this point, I hadn't realized that they had been talking about me.

"Hey, I'm Mike." I looked up to see a boy about my age. He was slightly taller than me, and dressed in all black. His dyed-green hair was gelled up into a spiky mohawk. I could tell that he was a Goth wannabe.

"Hi. My name's Bella," I replied, checking out his friend, who didn't look any better. Mike was looking at me, but didn't appear as frightened as the other people who had looked at me.

"Whoa. Nice contacts!" he said.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"Your contacts. They're awesome! Where did you get that color?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not wearing any contacts," I answered.

"Oh, uh, okay," he said as he backed away from me slowly, his expression confused and slightly frightened. He walked back to his friend while glancing back at me over his shoulder.

"Man, did you see her _eyes_? They're red, like blood-red!" he exclaimed. What the hell was he talking about? My eyes aren't red, they're brown! I quickly walked away from Mike and his friend, looking for the ocean and the boats that I would find there.

When I arrived at the docks, I had to find a boat headed to America. This could be difficult because I had no money or a passport. I realized that I would have to sneak on board, that I would have to be a stowaway.

There were many different kinds of boats docked along the coast. From fishing boats to sail boats. Yachts and speedboats. I wandered around, listening as I did. Within a couple of minutes, I heard a man speaking in English, not Italian. I started walking in the general direction of the voice. He had an American accent! I started to listen more closely to his conversation.

"We will leave Naples today; we're already behind schedule. At this rate, it will take longer that expected to reach New York." From his apparel and words, I could tell that he was the ship's captain. He was dressed in a clean, crisp white uniform that looked very official. Now all I had to do was follow them back to their ship and find a place where I could hide for the entirety of the journey.

The two men left the alcove they had been standing in, and walked down the pier closest to us. I followed them at a discreet distance, waiting to see which ship they would board. They walked past the first three ships, two yachts and one speedboat. The captain stopped at the fourth boat and gestured for his companion to board. A moment later, the captain followed him. I glanced at the side of the boat facing me to see the boat's name.

_The Trinity_ was a medium-sized fishing boat. It wasn't anything fancy, but it appeared comfortable and sturdy. From what I could see of the crew, I could count thirty heads.

Glancing around discreetly, I saw no one watching me, and I climbed aboard. The inside was clean and smelled slightly salty and musty. I heard someone approaching, so I hurried in the other direction. Fortunately, I was able to quickly find a doorway that had steps going down to the brig.

I stepped inside, wary of the thin layer of dark water covering the floor. It was very dark, except for a beam of sunlight coming down from a grate in the center of the ceiling. I shivered; I was feeling unusually cold. I walked carefully over to the spot of sunlight, hoping it would warm me up.

The moment I stepped into the sunlight, I was shocked by how the light was being refracted into sparkles that danced throughout the cabin. I glanced down, looking for what was causing the sparkling, and found that it was my _skin_.

I jumped back into the shadows, and the sparkles died away. I tentatively stretched my right hand out into the light. Immediately my hand began to sparkle. I pulled my hand closer, inspecting it to see why it was glittering. My skin was cold, and it seemed like it was made up of millions of tiny crystals.

It was then that all of the changes got to me. I staggered back from the sunlight, reaching behind me to find the wall. Searching, I found a door that led to a tiny, out-of-the-way room that was dark, but clean. I laid down on the floor, curling myself into a ball.

My mind was racing, and I found myself drifting out of the present and into the recent past. I was zoned out, overwhelmed by the events of the past few days. The crash was clear, and so was my journey to the boat. But my memories of the angel were fuzzy and incomprehensible.

I'd barely seen him, but I had thought that he was beautiful, strangely so. But even odder than that, I'd thought that he had burst us out of the plane by _punching_ a hole through it. But that couldn't be possible. I continued to ponder his existence.

I was broken out of my reverie by a distant crack of thunder. I glanced up to the grate, realizing that it had passed into the night while I had been thinking.

I felt strange. My throat was burning, and my veins were scorching. I felt a strange, acidic liquid pooling up in my mouth and throat. The only feeling that could compare to this was extreme hunger, or thirst, even. I decided to try and find the kitchen.

I wandered throughout the boat, except I avoided an area that smelled repulsive. The aft of the boat stank horribly, and I was sure that the kitchen couldn't be there. After my third time around the rest of the boat, I determined that the disgusting scent had to be coming from the kitchen, or an area near it, since I hadn't been able to find the kitchen anywhere else.

Sure enough, the bad smell was coming from where the food was stored. I took out a small packet of crackers, not wanting to take too much. Seeing the food only enhanced my feeling of repulsion. I quickly put the food back and left the kitchen, trying to rid my nose of the disgusting smell. I decided to walk up onto the deck to catch a refreshing breeze that would hopefully clear my mind.

I was aware of the smell of the sea first, and then I was hit by a simply mouthwatering scent. The liquid in my throat built up uncomfortably, and I swallowed it back. My ears picked up on the breathing and the heartbeat of a human.

I crept toward him, making sure that he couldn't see me. The breeze pushed the scent, the scent of his _blood_, toward me, driving me wild. I stepped out of my hiding, and sauntered toward him.

"Where did you--," he started to ask. But before he could finish his question, I had bared my teeth and sunk them into his pounding jugular.

The sweet, sweet blood pulsed into my mouth, and I swallowed reflexively. The man squirmed in pain in my grasp, trying to break free. The beautiful scent was so much stronger once his blood was released from the restraining veins and arteries. My hunger eased as I gulped it down. As I began to feel satiated, the limp body dropped from my fingers. I looked down on the dead body in horror as a drip of blood leaked out between my lips.


	8. Danger Ahead

**A/N: Thanks so much to my new beta TayBee, whose great advice has shaped and aided this story to its current state. Thanks a bunch!**

Edward's POV

Everyone was still sitting in a shocked silence after learning that I hadn't, in fact, killed Isabella Swan. Everyone, except Alice, was relieved.

"Yes, Edward. It's wonderful that you didn't kill her and all, but she is still a newborn. Even worse, she is a newborn on her own. If we don't find her soon, her bloodlust will turn her into a complete savage, and then we'd have a new problem on our hands: the Volturi. I think we understand what would happen if they got involved," Alice warned us.

I winced when I saw the visions of Bella in my head. She could easily kill so many humans. I nearly shivered when I saw the visions of the Volturi. Everyone looked worried, too. Jasper was getting stressed with the mixture and fluctuations of emotions, so he sent out a wave of calmness and determination.

"Okay, so we have to find her. Then what?" asked Rosalie.

"She'll probably already be insane, so I say we just eliminate her," Emmett suggested. I jumped to my feet in protest.

"No! We have to help her, not hurt her! This wasn't her fault! It was mine! Don't punish her for my mistakes." I looked to Carlisle for support.

"There are seven of us, Emmett. We should be able to subdue her until we can get her away from humans. Alice?"

She closed her eyes and was silent for a moment. "We'll be fine, but I don't know about her. I haven't met her; I'm not attuned to her. We will have to rely on you, Edward." She looked at me. "Where do you think she is?" The rest of my family gazed at me expectantly. Esme smiled encouragingly.

"We crashed off the coast of Italy, very close to Naples, but by this time, she could be anywhere."

"What other places would she have reason to go to? Where did she fly from? Where did she live?" Carlisle asked.

"Our plane left from JFK airport in New York City, and her passport stated that she lived in Phoenix," I said, remembering my recent visit to her home.

"So it's likely she's in one of those three cities. Those would be her last human memories. Alice, who do you think should go to each city?" Carlisle asked with authority.

"I think Edward, Jasper, and I should go to New York. Esme, you're with Emmett in Phoenix. Carlisle, you and Rose are heading to Naples. I think we should send one male with each group, for our own safety. I see all of us returning, with or without Bella, in one week," she foretold.

Carlisle rose to his feet. "Keep your cell phones with you at all times. After we take a last-minute hunt, we'll pack and go our separate ways. If you find Bella, be sure to approach her calmly. Tell her you know what she's going through, and offer to help her. She is probably scared. Only take her by force if you have to. Let's get going. Esme?" She walked over to Carlisle, and they exited the room hand in hand. The rest of us followed them out for a short hunting trip.

* * *

After draining a small doe, I turned to go back home and prepare my baggage. I had, unfortunately, fed relatively recently, so I hoped I would be able to be to go a few more weeks without blood. Alice stopped me.

"You can't leave yet. I know you just fed, but the taste of human blood will only make you crave it more. Trust me. You will have a very painful flight if you don't feed now. Besides, you need something to counter-act the burgundy in your eyes. Another few deer ought to help," Alice advised. "There's a small herd up ahead," she called out over her shoulder as she glided off before me. Dejectedly, I followed her, figuring that it was probably best to follower her advice.

Fifteen minutes and three deer later, I met up with Alice and Jasper in the clearing outside of the house. "Pack light, long sleeved clothes; it's warmer in New York. Don't forget sunglasses and such because there is a chance that we will need to be outside on a partly-sunny day," Alice predicted.

Shortly thereafter, the family met in the garage and piled into two vehicles. Esme and Emmett took the Mercedes with the darkest-tinted windows to drive to Phoenix. Carlisle and Rose, as well as Jasper, Alice, and I took my Volvo to the airport in Seattle where we would fly together to New York.

"Let me drive," Jasper offered, noticing my dark moods.

"I'm fine," I growled, pushing past him into the driver's seat. Fast driving got us to the airport in Seattle in less than an hour. After dropping the car in the long term parking lot, Alice, Jasper, and I walked Rose and Carlisle to their gate.

"We'll call you if I have any visions or if we find her," Alice assured Carlisle.

"I'm sure we'll find her, Edward. Don't destroy yourself over this. We'll see you in a week, but I'm sure that I'll hear from you sooner than that," Carlisle said softly, and with that, he and Rose boarded their flight. Our flight didn't leave for another few hours, so we found the waiting area near the gate for our flight. We sat there, and I tried to drown out the thoughts. A while later, however, Alice broke the silence and 'spoke' to me.

_We haven't moved in three hours. The people next to us are starting to get suspicious, I think. Besides, your brown contacts are wearing thin_, Alice warned me. _I'm going to walk around for a while, maybe that will help me see something._ I nodded. I rose to my feet and turned to walk towards the restrooms.

_Edward? Do you mind if I come with you?_ Jasper asked. I looked back at him and gestured for him to follow me. He caught up to me quickly. _I just thought that you might want my help, since you're feeling upset._

"Yes, thank you." We walked silently at a human pace for a while.

"What does Carlisle plan to do if—when, we find her?" Jasper asked aloud, keeping up our appearances as normal humans. "Will she stay with us, or will we take her to the Volturi? Or perhaps Tanya's clan?" he mused.

"I can't be certain—he isn't even sure yet—but I think he plans on having her stay with us, letting us take care of her. She is my responsibility."

"But what about the--," _bloodlust?_ he finished in his thoughts.

"We can handle that. We did with Esme and Rose, and then again with Emmett. It'll be hard, but we live in the mountains, so food shouldn't be an issue. If push comes to shove and she absolutely must have human blood, I'm sure Carlisle could obtain some from the hospital," I whispered in tones too low for human ears. Jasper and I walked into the bathroom and then into the largest stall that was open. I couldn't take the contacts out at the bathroom counters because the bright red eyes would startle someone.

"Here, Alice gave me a new box of stronger ones," Jasper said, handing me a box of deep brown contacts. "Do you need a mirror?" He asked as he passed me a contact mirror that I had seen Alice carrying before. I blinked out the old, disintegrating, contacts and inserted the new ones, fighting off the instinct to take the foreign objects out of my eyes.

"Why are there two guys in one stall?" a startled voice whispered quietly, but both Jasper and I could hear it.

"Shit," Jasper breathed. We'd both forgotten that it wasn't normal for two human men to be in the same bathroom stall. I heard the door to the bathroom open a crack and then a small item flew over our door. Reflexively, I reached out and caught a tide-to-go pen. _Where did that come from?_ Jasper asked me in his thoughts. He didn't have to wonder long.

"Boys? Edward? Did you and Jasper get that stain out of your shirt?" Alice called to us, loud enough for the people in the bathroom to hear. "Honestly, it shouldn't take two of you to get a coffee stain out of your shirt. You should have just let me do it. Hurry up, we'll miss our plane!" Realizing that Alice was helping us get out of the awkward situation, we rushed out of the stall at a normal human pace.

"Thanks, Alice," I whispered. "The last thing I needed was a crowded room of men thinking that we were trying to do something inappropriate there." She smiled briefly, but then became serious.

"I exchanged our tickets for a flight that has a layover in Texas, but leaves now. We really do need to hurry."

"This is the last call for passengers boarding flight 3598. Will Edward and Alice Cullen and Jasper Hale please report to Gate H for this flight? The plane departs soon," a voice on the loudspeaker system reported. We could have made it to the gate in less than a half-second, but by traveling at a human pace, we arrived just in time to board.

As we settled into our seats, Alice gasped. She was having a vision. "She's in danger. I'm not attuned to her, so I only get bits and pieces. It's bad, though, because the vision was crystal clear."

"Is there anything we can do?" I asked worriedly, concerned that my actions would lead to her death after all.

"I-I don't know. I just lost any sight of her at all. Right now, she has no future."

**A/N: If you've noticed, I have already posted this story under my old shared account 'conspiracytheories15' and am now reposting it under my own account. As ever, please review and tell me what you think!**


	9. A Friend in Need

**A/N: Thanks again to my awesome beta, TayBee. Check out her story "Recognition"!**

**Disclaimer: As much as I might wish that the opposite was true, Twilight doesn't belong to me.**

_One day earlier: Jacob's point of view._

_"And after the break, details on a plane crash off the coast of Italy, killing hundreds and leaving even more missing,"_ the television buzzed. The news anchor smiled even though she was delivering horrible news. I ignored her and continued scanning the newspaper for auto parts.

"Such a shame, losing so many lives," my dad, Billy, muttered. I nodded, not paying too much attention to either the television or my father. The sound of commercials provided background noise for me; one about a furniture sale, one about some car repair shop in Seattle, and one about a bookstore in Port Angeles. I heard the tacky music signifying the start of the news again.

"Many students boarded a plane in New York, planning to go on a big school trip. Unfortunately, these students never made it to their destination because of the devastating crash. Clara West is reporting live from Naples, Italy, near the site of the crash. Clara?" the newswoman asked.

"Good morning, Danielle. As you said earlier, a flight that departed from New York and was headed towards Florence crashed just a few miles off shore of Naples. Officials do not know the causes of the crash as of yet, but they are leaning towards human error. So far, no survivors have been found."

"That's horrible, Clara. Please keep us updated." said Danielle. "We've been given a list of names of the people who boarded this flight. Please watch the screen and call the number below if you have seen or heard from any of these people within the past two days. Now, onto sports." A few sports announcements passed before I heard something shatter. My head jerked up, only to see Billy's eyes glued to the television and his glass on the floor in pieces.

"Dad?" I asked.

No response.

"Dad?" I repeated. Only then did I follow his gaze to the list of name on the screen. "Do you recognize someone?" I began to ask, but then my eyes caught sight of one name in particular: Bella Swan. My sharp intake of breath seemed to break Billy out of his trance.

"No, it can't be her. She left from Phoenix!" Billy exclaimed as if trying to not only convince me but to convince himself, too. "I have to call Charlie." He wheeled himself over to the telephone and dialed the chief's number. Within a few seconds he hung up and swore. "Not home." he muttered. I sat still as I watched him wheel himself over to the drawer that we kept the phone books in. "I must have it somewhere," he muttered to himself.

Breaking out of my reverie, I asked him, "What are you looking for, Dad?"

"Renee's number." I tilted my head, not recognizing the name. "You know, Bella's mom, Renee Swan—Dwyer, now, I guess," he explained.

"Oh. Okay. Do you want help looking for it?" I asked, still a bit shocked that Bella Swan could be dead. We'd been friends since we were children. I'd always really liked her—I mean _really_ liked her, but I'd never had the guts to say anything. We talked occasionally, usually by phone since she didn't come to visit Charlie in Forks very frequently anymore. I did see him—Charlie—quite often, though. The chief had been friends with my dad since before my eldest sister had been born. Billy and I went to his house to watch sports together all the time.

"Find it yet?" Billy asked in a rushed voice.

"No. Wait, is this it?" I asked, holding up a small slip of light blue paper that had fallen out of the phone book. Billy grabbed it and rushed back to the phone. He dialed, and someone must have picked up quickly.

"Charlie? What are you doing in Phoenix?" he asked worriedly. "Oh no. So it's true, she's really missing?" Billy rubbed his eyes with his hand, a sure sign that he was stressed.

"Dad? What's going on?" I tried to ask.

"Shh," he told me, trying not to get distracted from his conversation. I sat, none too patiently, to hear the news. "I'm very sorry Charlie. Send my regards to Renee and Phil, please. I sincerely hope that they find her—alive," he finished. "Call me if there is anything that Jake or I can do." He hung up and wiped his eyes. I turned off the television and watched him, waiting to hear the bad news.

"I'm sorry, son. It's true. Bella's missing, and it's most likely she's dead," he told me sadly.

"No!" I shouted. "She can't be!"

"Jacob! Control yourself! You can't phase in here!" Billy warned, having noticed how I was shaking in fury. I rushed outside, stripping my clothes off along the way. Within seconds I had changed and was sprinting off through the forest, trying to run out my rage. "Jake, come back!" I heard my father's call from over a mile away. I couldn't go back yet. I wasn't in control.

I heard the pack in my head, asking what was wrong. All I had to do was think of the image of her name on the missing list and they all understood.

_Take your time, but come back as soon as you can,_ Sam told me. _Billy needs you. Phase back_, he told everyone else. _He needs his space - his mind._ I kept running, thankful for the peace and quiet that I was being given.

* * *

I came home four hours later, exhausted and depressed, but with a glimmer of hope inside of me. I phased back just inside the edge of the woods surrounding our house and walked back to the porch, collecting the clothes that I had shed in my haste earlier.

"Jacob?" Billy called, sounding relieved.

"Yeah, Dad, it's me. Just give me a second to get dressed, okay?" I dressed and walked out of my room to find him sitting in front of the kitchen table, waiting for me. "Dad, I was thinking while I was running."

"About?" he asked cautiously, noticing my expression of hope and desperation.

"Well, I'm a werewolf, so I'm faster and stronger than humans," I started, waiting for his reaction.

"Yes, that's true," he admitted guardedly.

"I could go to Naples. I could try and find her scent. I could save her!" I exclaimed.

"Jake, you can't just leave like that. You're not prepared."

"Yes, I am. I have a passport from when we went to Rebecca's wedding in Rio de Janeiro. I have money saved. I have to do this!" I said adamantly.

"Jake- it's been two days. It's unlikely-."

"No, Dad. This is something that I must do."

"There's no way that I can convince you to stay home and let the police take care of her?" he asked in defeat.

"No. She's my friend, and I have to do whatever I can to help her." He sighed, looking resigned.

"Well, son, just keep yourself safe. I want you to come back to me in one piece. Don't do anything stupid. I'm sure Charlie would appreciate anything that could help him get his daughter back, even though he won't know what you're doing." He rolled himself over to the counter where he kept his wallet. "Here's my bank card. Take what you need. I can't let you use up your college fund," he said as he passed me a card.

"Thanks Dad," I said, wiping tears from my eyes. The whole situation had finally caught up with me. "I'll need to leave tomorrow if I have any hope of saving her." He looked like he wanted to object, but just nodded.

"I suppose you'll need to pack. Let me call the airport and see if I can get you a flight." He picked up the phonebook once again and dialed. I turned back into my room to pack my essential items. When I finished packing, I walked back into the kitchen.

"I managed to get you a flight that leaves in the morning. It's not a direct flight—it has one stop in Texas. After that, you'll hop onto another plane that will fly you New York, and then to Naples." I thanked him again and took the piece of paper that he had written my confirmation number on. "You'd better rest up for your trip," he advised.

"Alright. I'll probably leave before you get up in the morning, so--," I choked up.

"It's going to be okay, Jake. I'll see you soon. Good luck and goodbye. Don't worry about the pack, I'll handle them. You just take good care of yourself," he ordered me. I hugged him hard and then headed back into my bedroom for the night.

* * *

I woke abruptly at three in the morning. I had been having nightmares of plane crashes and of Bella, bleeding and dying. I shuddered and decided to take a hot shower to wake me up and take my mind off of my bad dreams. Shutting the shower off after all the hot water ran out, I climbed out and dried myself off. Dressing quickly, I grabbed my suitcase and keys to the Rabbit and hurried out the door. After a quick thought, I turned around and went back in the house. I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and scrawled a quick note for my father.

_Dad, _

_I cannot thank you enough for your support and help. I don't know why this means so much to me, but this is something that I have to do. Bella has meant a lot to me over the years, and I owe it to her and to Charlie to do everything in my power to find and try to save her. Don't worry about me; I'll call you as soon as I reach the airport. Of course I'll keep you updated. I hope to come home soon—with Bella. I'll miss you._

_With love,_

_Jake_

I left the note on the kitchen table, and walked out the door and climbed into the Rabbit. It would take me at least three hours to get to the airport, so I needed to leave quickly. Luckily, it was only drizzling, so the road wasn't too bad.

After three and a half agonizing hours in the car, I arrived at the airport in Seattle. I rushed in and to the correct gate just in time to board; the attendant had to reopen the gate for me in order for me to get on the plane. I quickly sat down and buckled myself in and waited for the plane to take off down the runway.

**A/N: Thanks for all of the support! I was very happy to get your responses and reviews, so please keep me updated on what you think!**


	10. Choice

**A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update! I promise that I'm working on the next chapter now, and hopefully it'll be up soon.**

BPOV

I jumped ship as soon as I saw the lifeless body hit the floor of the ship. I couldn't be near people. I was a monster. I began swimming. The hours turned into days, but my body never faltered. It seemed that I had an endless supply of strength. It wasn't for about another two and a half days that the first signs of land came into view. More and more boat traffic became visible, and keeping myself from feeding became much more difficult. The smells changed from salty and natural to smoky and industrial. Birds flew high overhead, not daring to get near me. My condition seemed to literally repel any living creature.

I stopped swimming a few miles off shore, treading water, as I planned my next move. I knew my throat was burning worse than before I killed the sailor, and I was horrified my body would take over again before I could stop myself. Loath to kill another human but not sure of any other way to satiate the pain, I knew I'd have to try and fight back my instincts, even if it meant hurting myself.

I turned slightly south and began swimming parallel to the shore. I kept going until the sun had set and I had reached a wooded patch of land, hopefully far away from any humans. Soaking wet and filthy, I crawled out of the ocean and onto the beach, nearly incapacitated by my hunger. Struggling to swallow the liquid building up in my mouth, I glanced up to see my surroundings. Horrifyingly, I heard a heartbeat and pounding footsteps.

Running towards me down the beach was a middle aged man out for a jog. Wearing running shorts and a t-shirt, he looked slightly panicked and exhausted. Sweat beaded on his forehead and trailed down his neck, crossing over his pulsing arteries. Even though I tried with all of my might to control myself, my inner monster took over in its hunger and I shifted into attack mode once again.

As he continued making his way towards me, I stalked predatorily in his direction. "Oh, thank God! I'm lost, and my wife is expecting me home soon. Do you know how I can get back to the highway?" he called out to me. I ignored him as I continued to walk closer to him at human pace. "Hello? Miss? Are you from around here?" he asked again. Suddenly overcome by my thirst, I ran supernaturally fast until I was right in front of him, close enough to feel his panting breath on my skin.

"How'd you get here so fast? I can swear I saw you--," I cut him off as I grabbed him by his shoulders and roughly jerked his head to the side. He struggled, but was no match for my superior strength. I carried him to a nearby boulder on the beach and pressed his body up against it so I could get better access to his throat. As he screamed and kicked, I slipped on the unstable sand, falling onto my backside. Once released from my bruising grip, he scrambled up to the top of the very tall boulder, trying to avoid me.

"Stay away! Don't come near me again! I-I'll hurt you, I swear I will! My son's a cop; I'll make sure he finds you!" he threatened as I regained my footing. I snarled and jumped up, grabbing a handhold on the rock. Pieces of it broke off in my grasp. I climbed the boulder, hissing at him for evading me. In an attempt to escape me, he jumped backwards off the boulder. I heard a sickening crunch as he hit the ground and the delicious pulsing slowed, and then stopped. All was silent for one glorious second.

"Trying to steal our dinner, were you?" a masculine voice said from somewhere behind me. I spun around.

"Who are you?" I asked, breaking out of my attack mode. Behind me stood three people: two men and a woman with flaming red hair.

"It's always the same question: Who are you? What do you want? Why are you doing this?" he said mockingly as he sallied towards me.

"James, don't play with her. Our food's dead, so the blood is no good. We'll have to go elsewhere for dinner," the second man said. The woman stood slightly behind the first speaker and eyed me cautiously.

"Yes, I see. But I'm up for a good fight. Anyone else?" he asked, smiling cruelly at me. From the look of their pale skin and red eyes, I concluded that they must have the same strange condition that I had. My eyes darted around, trying to find a way to escape. He must have noticed what I was doing, for he suddenly jumped up on top of the boulder directly in front of me.

"Are you afraid?" he asked. I nodded in defeat, seeing no way out of the situation. "Dammit! You're not going to put up a fight, are you? Killing you will be so easy that it will hardly be any fun, much less worth the little effort it would take." He sprang towards me, knocking me off the boulder and onto my back in the sand.

"James! She's not a threat to us; let her be. She's brand new. Just look at her! Let's just leave," suggested the other man, sitting on a small rock a few feet away. James circled me, a malicious glint in his eyes.

"Wait…what's your gift?" the woman spoke for the first time. Her voice was like bells.

"G-gift?" I stuttered.

"Your power," the second man clarified. "If she has a good power, perhaps we should keep her. Use her," he proposed to James.

"Alright, I'll buy it. Answer him. What's your power?" James asked, kicking me in the stomach for not answering.

"I-I don't have one!" I shouted, frustrated. I wished that, if they were planning on killing me, that they could just skip the foreplay and get it over with.

"See? She's useless," James stated, circling in close enough to kick me in my face this time.

"Perhaps she just hasn't manifested or discovered it. She is new, like I said. Let her choose," the other man suggested.

"Fine, Laurent, but if she becomes a hassle, she's _your_ problem," James hissed in response. Laurent stood, approaching me. He walked forward slowly, hands raised in a gesture of peace.

"The choice is yours. You can join us, or James will kill you. Perhaps you didn't deserve this fate, but this is the way of our world. Now, choose." He murmured in the kindest voice I had heard.

Three pairs of eyes turned in my direction, awaiting my response.


	11. Enemy or Ally?

**A/N: Alright, I admit it. I'm not so great at frequent updates. :( Anyway, Twilight's not mine. Enjoy the chapter.**

E-POV

"What do you mean, _she has no future_?!" I demanded furiously.

"Edward!" Jasper said harshly. "_We're in public!"_ He sent waves of tranquility at me.

"I don't know! It's not that I just can't see her, I _can't see anything_! Alice told us. We all fastened our seat belts, like good passengers, as the flight attendants walked down the aisles, checking to make sure that everyone was buckled in.

"Excuse me, sir," a male flight attendant leaned over me to check Alice and Jasper. As he turned away, he stirred the air around us. We stiffened in unison.

"_What is a werewolf doing on our flight?"_ Jasper thought.

"_Must be a Quileute. There is no other pack close by. But why? Why would he be on our flight?" _questioned Alice. "_Can you hear anyone, Edward?"_ I listened to the thoughts pouring through my head, trying to sort through the "voices" to find one belonging to a werewolf.

_I hope Linda has those delicious steaks ready when I get home…_

_Can I sneak out this porn magazine and not have Mom see it? I'm really…_

_I wish I'd brought my pack with me._ I automatically zeroed in on this person's thoughts, thinking that the word "pack" referred to a wolf pack. I changed my mind when his thoughts continued. _How am I going to go for another eight hours with out a cigarette until I can get out of the airport and buy more?_ Damn words and their double meanings. I kept searching.

_You only slept with her once, on vacation! That doesn't count as an affair. Samantha will never..._

_Dammit! Vampires! I can't tear them to shreds on an __**airplane**__! We're already in the air, so I can't even get out of here!_

"Found the dog," I whispered quickly to my siblings.

"Does he know we're here?" asked Jasper quickly, scanning the seats around us for danger.

"Oh yeah," I stated abruptly, trying to listen for more of the animal's thoughts.

"Which one is it?" Alice asked.

"I don't know!" I responded, frustrated.

_Maybe Billy was right. Perhaps I __**did**__ make a rash decision to leave so abruptly to try and find Bella. Stupid, stupid, Jacob. What am I supposed to do about the leeches?_

"Do you think that is why my visions are blocked? Because dogs are too unpredictable? I wish I knew why she is in danger," Alice murmured.

"I think his name is probably Jacob. It sounded as though he was calling himself that name," I told them.

"Jacob…Jacob…Black? The boy with direct lineage to Ephraim Black, the old wolf that Carlisle made the treaty with?" Jasper asked. Although he had not been present at the time of the treaty's conception, he had heard the story many times.

"I believe so. He's also thinking about Bella, as if he knows her. He, too, is going after her to try and find her."

"But he doesn't know that she has changed," Alice pointed out. "Let me talk to him."

"No!" Jasper nearly shouted, startling people in the seats nearest to us. Her eyes snapped to his, questioning. "He's volatile, Alice. I can't let him harm you!"

"_Someone_ needs to talk to him in order to prevent any hostile confrontations between us in public. I'm the least threatening of the three of us, so let me go. I can take care of myself, and it's not like he could do anything on the plane, anyway," she insisted as she scooted out past me and into the aisle.

"Alice," Jasper hissed, but she was already gone.

* * *

A-POV

It wasn't hard to find Jacob Black. He stunk. Horribly. He was sitting in the back of the business class section behind us; I had bought first class seats. Luckily, he was sitting by the window with no one beside him. As I approached him, his head jerked up and he glowered at me, growling too low for a human to hear.

"Jacob?" I asked softly, cautiously walking up to his row of seats.

"Yes?" he asked curtly.

"I'm Alice. Alice Cullen. Do you mind if I join you?"

"What do you want?" he hissed angrily.

"We need to talk," I responded. "I'm part of Carlisle's family. You're a Quileute, correct?"

He nodded abruptly and then reluctantly said, "You can sit." I nodded in thanks and sat down in the seat beside him.

"Jacob, we're both on this flight for a reason. For the same reason." His angry expression quickly turned into confusion.

"How can you possibly know why I'm here?" he asked.

"It's obvious that you know what I am, and what my two siblings are." He acknowledged this as true with a sharp nod. "What you may not know is…some of us have gifts."

"Gifts?" he questioned. I was hesitant to reveal more of our secrets, but the situation called for an explanation, especially if I needed to gain his trust.

"Yes. Carlisle has a theory that our strongest qualities are enhanced once we are turned. For example, my sister's tenacity became stronger in her new life," I explained, using one of the least strange gifts as an example.

"Okay. So your sister is stubborn. What's that got to do with how you know I'm here?" he asked.

"She's not the only gifted one. This may sound strange to you, but…my brother, Edward, can read minds," I said hesitantly.

"Read minds," he chuckled darkly. "Sure, sure."

"Would you like proof?"

"Yeah, sure."

_Edward, I'm going to need your assistance_, I called in my mind to my brother.

"Hello, Jacob," Edward's cool voice said from behind me. "You're wondering if my sister Alice is insane. You are also thinking about how unlucky you are to have ended up on a plane with three 'filthy insane bloodsuckers', as you call us. You worry about Billy, and leaving him home alone. This is all freaking you out. Now, do you still have any doubts about my abilities?" After Edward's performance, Jacob's expression changed from scorn and disbelief to consternation.

"You-you're serious, aren't you. Because—yeah—that _was_ what I was thinking," Jacob whispered.

"Yes, I am. And no, I'm not the only one," Edward responded to a mental question of Jacob's.

"Well shit!" was all he said aloud, but I could tell that his tirade continued internally by Edward's slightly amused expression. He calmed down after a few minutes, and then continued our previous conversation.

"You said that we're both on this flight for the same reason. What could you possibly have to do with Bella?" Any hint of amusement that had been on Edward's face vanished instantly.

"_Leave now, Edward. Go back to your seat," _I thought. I didn't want Edward to be around when I told Jacob. The wolf would most likely get angry, and Edward being present would only provoke him. My brother sighed and went back to his seat.

"How well do you know Isabella Swan?" I asked cautiously.

"Why do you want to know?" he questioned guardedly.

I sighed exasperatedly, then decided to just stop the evasiveness and get to the truth. "Edward was on Isabella's plane, the one that crashed."

"So?"

"There was no way to save her frail human body. Edward couldn't save her life." I didn't want to incriminate Edward. Maybe if I made him sound like a saint, who was trying to _save _Bella, not kill her, Jacob would be more forgiving.

"So she's dead, then," Jacob said in a depressed tone.

"No, I didn't say that. What I'm saying is, she's not dead, but she's not quite human anymore, either."

**A/N: Reviews are happy-making!**


	12. Explanation

**A/N: Sorry for the long update time! (I love you all for your patience.) On my profile, I have a poll that could influence how the upcoming chapters are written. Please share your opinions with me!**

BPOV

"That's it? _Those_ are my choices?" I asked hesitantly, looking between the three other vampires, searching for some sympathy or kindness. I turned my pleading gaze on Laurent, hoping that, by some miracle, he would help me. He appeared sad, but made no move to come to my rescue. He gave me a small smile and nodded.

"Yes. Please choose, or I'm afraid that James may make your choice for you," Laurent said. I wanted to run from them, to go home, back to my old life. In response to my thoughts, my body automatically changed into a stance of flight. Unfortunately, my moves did not go unnoticed.

"Run all you like," the woman mocked me. "I love the chase." I slowly returned to a normal standing position, trying to appear non-threatening. I knew that I really had no choice here. Upset, but not yet suicidal, choosing to join them was the only choice open to me.

"Change your mind? Decide not to run after all?" James taunted, circling me.

"I—I'll join you," I whispered softly. As I spoke, I watched their faces for reactions. Laurent looked visibly relieved, whereas the woman appeared disappointed. James was ambivalent.

"Don't worry, Victoria. I'll let you kill her once we're done with her. I have a plan for how we can use her. For now, just tolerate her, please?" She turned her fiery gaze at me and glared, unhappy but submissive to James' leadership. She shrugged James' hand off her shoulder and strode past me.

"I will kill you someday. Perhaps not today, but one of these days. You're mine." I shrank back against the boulder for support and watched as James slowly followed her down the beach.

"Good choice," Laurent spoke, startling me. I turned towards him, a look of fear still on my face. "Don't fear me. I mean you no harm," he reassured me. "Who knows, I may even try to warm Victoria up to you." I looked at him doubtfully, but decided that he was most likely the most trustworthy out of the three.

"Wh-what now?" I asked hesitantly, afraid to speak aloud.

"Well, we'll probably move on to a new state, perhaps a different region of the country. We're nomads," he explained to my confused look. "Most vampires are, actually."

"I don't understand. Vampires? That's what I really am…a vampire?" I asked, disbelief in my tone. I knew that I had changed, become something different, something paranormal. I should have known. What other kind of creature thirsts for blood?

"You really are young to this life, aren't you? Come, walk with me." I walked beside him down the beach. He directed me in the opposite direction from the one that James and Victoria had taken. We walked slowly at a normal human pace for a few minutes before he spoke again.

"I've never sired anyone before, so I don't know how to adequately explain our existence. Yes, we are vampires. I'm sure you've noticed the blood lust by now, as well as our heightened senses and abilities." His voice was surprisingly gentle and softer than the waves lapping against the beach. He looked at me to confirm his statement. I nodded.

"Yes, I've noticed those things. But you said that most vampires are nomads. Are there many of them—of us? Some aren't nomads?" I had to voice some of the questions racing through my mind.

"Yes, there are quite a few of us. More than I ever would have thought." He paused to think. "Mostly, we keep ourselves hidden, never drawing attention to ourselves. And yes, most of us are nomads," he said in response to my second question.

"And the others?" I asked, fascinated by his words.

"There are not many that manage to maintain permanent residences. One such coven exists in Italy, in a kingdom called Volterra. They are our leaders, more or less. They enforce our rule."

"Rule?" I asked, surprised.

"There is only one rule. Keep the secret." He shrugged, and we walked along in silence for several more minutes.

"So you travel with James and Victoria?" I asked, wanting to know more about the cabal that I had unwillingly joined.

He nodded. "I've been with them for going on thirty years now. More recently, we have been in Canada. We've been here in the northeast for about four months now. James is getting restless. The prey here is too easy, you know," he said conversationally. I froze, surprised at his carefree tone.

"What?" he asked, noticing how I had hesitated. "Oh, right. I know you're a newborn, but when were you turned? A better question: who turned you and left you alone?" he asked, worry creasing his brow. "That's pretty uncommon in our world. Unguided newborns frequently become insane and go on killing rampages. That's when the Volturi step in."

"Honestly? I don't know," I replied. "I'm not sure when precisely I was _turned_," I tried the word out in an unfamiliar context, "nor do I know who turned me," I elaborated at his confused expression. "I was in a plane crash about- well, I guess a week ago, and I thought that I would definitely die. I remember being thrust out of the plane and into the ocean, but after that, my memories only consist of unconsciousness and waves of pain."

He took a moment to respond, gazing at the sky lightening in the east. "Someone—one of us—must have saved you. Do you remember seeing anyone that resembled us, acted with our mannerisms? I've been alive for a while now and it's possible that I could identify him or her. Perhaps then we could contact--," he was cut off by the sudden appearance of James and Victoria.

"Laurent? Are you finished here?" James asked, purposely failing to acknowledge me.

"Sure. Where do you plan to head to next?" Laurent responded.

"I know we don't usually do this type of thing, but I was considering meeting up with a few old acquaintances. What do you think?" asked James, still ignoring me. Victoria smirked at me evilly, as if there was more to the James' travel plans than I was aware of.

"Who were you thinking of visiting?" Laurent asked, also glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.

"I thought we might pay a little visit to Peter and Charlotte. I propose that we go to Texas."

* * *

APOV

_The outside of an old, abandoned warehouse…two indistinct figures seen through a window…a sense of four presences outside looking in…approaching the door…two now familiar faces opening the door cautiously…four unknown presences entering the makeshift home…one slightly familiar female face._

I knew where Bella would soon be.

**A/N: Once again, thanks for reading. Reviews are lovely!**


	13. What now?

A/N: For some reason, DocX isn't working for me, so I was unable to send this to my beta, TayBee. (LadyAlera, if you're reading this, this is the reason that I haven't been able to send you the poems you sent me.) I must apologize for the shortness of this chapter...more of the action will happen in the next chapter in Bella's POV. This is more of a filler chapter. I think I'm finally back on track with the story plan, so I'm working on the chapter 14 right now. Thanks for sticking with this story! If you haven't noticed, my sister and I are writing a story together now--"L'etoile de Minuit"--and I've started another one by myself. Check them out, if you have the time! :)

EPOV

The seething werewolf, although a great distraction, could not keep me from seeing Alice's vision. Why Bella and her companions would visit Peter and Charlotte—that was anyone's guess. But now that I knew where Bella would be, my mood suddenly turned optimistic. It didn't matter who Bella was with; my family and I could intervene and take her under our wing.

Standing once again, I returned to Alice's side near the werewolf. Irately, he turned to look at me. "You fucking turned her?!?" he asked in disbelief. With that question, my mood turned black once again.

"That's no longer relevant," I said, brushing him off in order to speak to Alice instead of the wolf. "Texas?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Why?"

"Well--."

"Stop!" Jacob cut in. "I deserve some answers. And what's this about Texas?" he growled, glaring first at me, then at Alice.

"Jasper?" Alice asked. My brother had followed me to Alice's side once he felt my wildly fluctuating moods. The calming waves that he sent out helped tranquilized the dog and dulled the extreme emotions that I had been fighting. Jasper, always serene due to his gift, took over the situation.

"Let's keep this peaceful, alright? We don't need to alarm our fellow passengers. Now, I don't exactly know what's going on either, Jacob," he said, trying to appear harmless and civil by calling the dog by name. With a glance at his wife, Jasper put the situation once again in her hands.

"First, to answer your exclamation, Jacob, Edward did turn Bella," she sighed, thinking that it would have been better if she didn't have to answer that question so directly. I, too, mentally grimaced at the thought of how Jacob could react. Fortunately, he didn't explode into a large canine thanks to Jasper.

"What you don't know, Jasper—and Jacob—is that we know where Bella will be, but not why. Perhaps you will have a better idea than I do, Jasper. Bella, along with three unknown companions, will be in Texas shortly. They will be visiting with Peter and Charlotte." Having already known this, I didn't react. Jasper did.

Golden eyes turned dark and wild, and Jasper's thoughts became rooted in turmoil. "What, precisely, did Bella's companions look like?" he asked. His thoughts took him back to his personal dark ages. _Creating newborns...training…battles…disposal of used newborns…_ The thoughts continued. I pulled myself out, already having enough depressing thoughts of my own without experiencing Jasper's as well.

"Nomads," was Alice's only response.

_No…not what I meant. Bloodthirsty. Evil. Territorial. Conquering._

I responded directly to his thoughts. "Yes and no. The leader and the woman fit your thoughts, but not the other male."

"What description? What thoughts?" Jacob demanded.

"I wanted to know if the vampires traveling with Bella are the territorial type, the kind of vampire that would fight to claim land," Jasper explained.

"And? Why should I care?" Jacob asked.

"Yes, they are exactly that type of vampire," I replied for Jasper. "If they are territorial, they may be planning to fight for land, thereby placing Bella in danger." Even though this danger would not be directly my fault, I would obviously still the one to blame for anything that happened to Bella.

_Stop it, Edward_, Jasper thought, sensing my reoccurring distress.

"When will Bella and the others find Peter and Charlotte?" I asked Alice.

After a moment, she responded, "Early tomorrow morning. They are running there. From somewhere up North, I believe. This is their current path. I only see what path they are on right now, which could change depending on their decisions," she explained to Jacob.

"So…I guess our connecting flight is a no-go, then," he stated to no one in particular.

"Correct," I said.

"So now what do we do?" he asked.

"We get off this plane and find a hotel room," Alice responded.

"And then?"

"We wait."


	14. Unexpected Meeting

**A/N: So, here's a long one! Thanks so much to two people for looking this over for me: the_glory_days and TayBee. Also, thanks to vampire chaud, my best buddy that kicks my ass when I don't get writing! :D**

BPOV

"Are you _sure_ you won't have a sip?" James taunted me. "He's already dead, you know. You won't be harming any more _precious_ _human lives_," he sneered at me.

"No. I don't want any," I refused. I'd prefer to suffer the burning in my throat than to have to kill or even drink from another human. Perhaps death _would_ have been the better choice.

"Fine, then," he spat before turning back to his latest victim. I turned in the opposite direction so I could not see James and Victoria feeding on the hitchhiking couple that they had captured.

We had left only five hours ago, but with our speed, we had already reached southern Pennsylvania. By following the Appalachian Trail, the rest of the vampires had easily found a midnight victim. Although my throat was telling me to follow suit and to grab a victim of my own, I could not forfeit my humanity and do so.

James's goal was to reach our destination in Texas by mid-morning. At first, when he had said that we would run to Texas, I had thought him to be insane. After a moment of thought, I realized that I had swam _across _the Atlantic Ocean. Several hundred miles of running should be a breeze.

However, I just could not get used to the fact that I was … a _vampire_. A creature of myth and legend. Not only could I not see myself as a vampire now, I could not see any future for myself. Would I be condemned to travel with James, Victoria, and Laurent for eternity, brutally murdering humans upon a whim?

All of my life—just seventeen years, as it was—I had had a plan for my life. First, I would graduate high school and then enroll in college. Hopefully, after obtaining a degree in journalism, I would become either a journalist or an author. Then, sometime in my late twenties or my early thirties, I would meet a man that I would fall in love with. We'd get married and have a few children, who would grow up to lead happy lives. I had not wished for a complicated or privileged life. All I had wanted were the things that any normal girl would want.

Unfortunately, even as a child I had not gotten along well with other people my age. We did not fight—no, I was and still am a very shy person—but I could never really relate to anyone. Since I had always found it easier to talk to adults, I'd hoped that I could grow out of that phase.

"You really won't drink?" Laurent, coming up beside me, startled me out of my reverie.

"I can't. Especially not this soon. Now that I _can_ stop myself, I must," I explained, kicking at a stone with my toes. It flew into the distance, probably about four hundred yards, and thudded into a tree, denting its trunk.

"Well, you're going to have to feed sometime soon. I hope you don't regret this decision not to drink now." He began to walk off back toward the trail.

"So, uh, why are we going to Texas?" I asked, wondering about James's motives.

Turning back me, he said, "I am not like James. Nor am I like Victoria, even though her past is more similar to mine than it is to James's. It may be a bit soon for this tale, but I believe that you may need to know this now." Approaching me, he began to tell me the tale of the vampire wars in the south.

"Many decades ago, power-seeking vampires created armies in order to fight one another for territory. This idea began with a vampire named Benito. Several times, the Volturi—our rulers for all intents and purposes—had to put an end to the infighting. James…he was created as a soldier in one of these wars. When the Volturi ended the fighting, they killed all of the vampires involved. James, along with a few lucky others, managed to escape that fate.

"One might think that after his experience, James would want to avoid further vampire wars like the plague. Contradictorily, James is a vampire through and through. It is my assumption that he wishes to be the organizer instead of a soldier in a vampire war." I stood in stunned silence, trying to process Laurent's story about James. How could humans have never noticed the supernatural events going on amidst us?

There was one thing on which I still needed clarification. "What does Texas have to do with the vampire wars? Is that where James plans to organize his army?"

"Most likely not. He would more likely be noticed there than somewhere else, say, the northwest."

"Then why Texas?" I repeated.

"The original vampire wars occurred in the southern states, Texas included. I presume that he's going down there to consult with some of the other survivors of the war in hopes that they have some kind of advice for how he can start his war." Laurent's expression was not enthusiastic when he spoke of the possible upcoming war.

"You don't sound as though you support James," I stated, hoping for an explanation of his lack of approval.

"No—not really. Yes, I am a vampire, but I don't feel the need to conquer my own territory," he sighed.

"Then why are you staying with them now? You could probably leave easily enough." It was my turn to sigh; Escaping wouldn't be as simple for me.

"You're right, I probably could. It's just that—," he broke off.

"What?" I prodded.

"You must understand that it is has been many years since I've talked to humans. But being around you…you've reawakened some of my humanity. I don't think that I could leave you alone with them. I may be…allied to them now, but I don't particularly trust them. I've seen what James can do, and you are just too human, too innocent, to leave to him."

"I—uh—th-thank you," I stuttered, surprised by his motives.

"It's not a problem. After all, you didn't choose this." His voice suddenly lowered. "If I can, I'll try and get you out. But now's not the time; they're ready to leave." I followed his gaze and saw James approaching, his right arm slung over Victoria's shoulders. "Anyway, think on what I've said about feeding," he spoke louder now. "You'll only feel worse the longer you go without sustenance."

"Alright, alright, enough of this chattering. We've got places to go, Laurent," James ordered. To Victoria, he whispered suggestively, "Run ahead of me…I want to chase you."

"Sure…I love it when men chase me."

* * *

The sun had been up for four hours by the time we got to the Texas border, making it around 10:30 in the morning. I wasn't tired, but my throat throbbed uncontrollably and the venom amassed in my mouth at an alarming rate, forcing me to swallow frequently.

In between swallows, I approached Laurent with a question. "Excuse me, but how exactly do we find this Peter from here? Since you said that most vampires are nomads, aren't they?"

"I guess so. I've never met them. But I don't think that it matters. We have James and his gift."

"Oh." He must have noticed my confusion, for he elaborated.

"James is a tracker, and is absolutely lethal. I've never seen a tracker like him before. He has the ability to follow—to track—anyone. Human or vampire. My supposition is that James can track down Peter from his prior experiences with him."

"That's true," James interjected. "Now it would be great if we could discover _your_ gift, or finally find out if you're just plain useless.

"James," Laurent warned.

"Fine. I just don't understand your sympathy for the bizarrely moral vampire. Follow me, then," he said as he took off, scenting the ground before him as he sprinted off through the trees. We followed him over logs, through trees and streams, and around towns and neighborhoods.

I was usually not bothered by my outward appearance, but all of this travel was having an effect on my stolen outfit. I would need to clean myself up a bit before being in the presence of humans again.

All of a sudden, James halted with the rest of us not far behind him. "What is it?" Victoria asked impatiently. "Why did we stop?"

"It's—I—I—I recognize—but—I don't know who—," he stuttered before breaking off.

"James? Is that you?" a female voice called from ahead of us.

"Maria?" he asked incredulously, disbelief written on his face.

"What a surprise it is to come across you," she said, none too excitedly. "I see that you're still alive." We had stopped walking, but she was slowly approaching us. The closer that she got to us, the better I could make out her appearance.

Maria was a very petite Mexican girl—well, she looked like a girl, but must have been much older than she appeared. The sunlight, refracting off of her skin, also made her dark brown hair shine. Her most startling feature was her burgundy eyes, so similar to my companions', yet disquieting all the same. She stopped walking and stood, frozen, five feet in front of James.

"Yes, well, I didn't exactly expect to see _you_ here, either," was his reply.

"No? Who were you looking for, then? Don't think that I've forgotten your talent, James." For the first time, she took her eyes off of James and looked at the rest of us. "If I recall correctly, you didn't strike me as the type of vampire to travel in a group. Very solitary, you were."

"I've picked up some companions along the way, yes. And why should you care about who I'm tracking?" he asked insolently.

"Do not disrespect me!" she said in a hard voice as her crimson eyes flashed back to James. "Do not forget who saved you from a mortal life, either. I am still more powerful that you are, young James. Never forget that," Maria threatened. "Now…why have you returned to Texas?" her voice became softer and more flippant once again. "I thought that you were happy enough to escape with your life the last time you were here. What could possibly convince you to come back?"

"I have come to seek advice," James said, with much more respect in his voice.

"If you did not come looking for me, then who is it that you have been so vigorously tracking?"

"An old acquaintance…You remember Peter, no?" James asked cautiously.

"Peter…Peter…Ah, yes, I do recall this Peter. Was he not one of the leaders of your group that I sent to exterminate you and your fellow soldiers? One of the cowards that fled, instead of staying to continue his duty?" she questioned, still very blasé.

"Yes…that's him," he said, even more reluctantly. Maria seemed none too pleased with James for wanting to seek advice from a traitor.

"What could you possibly want from _him?_" was her incredulous reply. Her calm and uncaring façade had broken.

With fear in his expression, he explained. "I have acquired a newborn, recently," he gestured to me. Maria's gaze once again flickered in my direction. "She's brought back memories of our…shared past."

Maria nodded, seemingly understanding. "Feeling some nostalgia for the good old days?" she asked.

"Actually, yes, I am. At the time, I didn't enjoy being—pardon me, but—a mere soldier to do your every bidding." Maria's expression grew tighter in anger, but she managed not to say anything to show her ire. "Now, I have the capability to be the _leader_ of my own army, not the soldier." He stopped, waiting for her reaction.

"So you came searching for Peter in hopes that he would what? Give you advice on leadership?" she asked sarcastically. "You should know that he had very little power. He was _fifth_ in command. He wouldn't know anything. Especially since it seems now that all that he did was done reluctantly and not by choice."

"Oh," was James's only reply. I had never seen him so speechless.

"Unless, of course…"

"Unless what?" he asked, grasping for a thread.

"Unless _I_ can help you," she suggested. Victoria lurched towards her, hissing.

"Ah, so you've found a mate, then," said Maria, laughing. James grabbed on to Victoria's shoulders, restraining her.

"He's mine," Victoria spat.

"Yes, so I see," Maria said in slight disappointment. "Yet it's been so very long since I've seen or been with another one of our kind," she sighed. A moment later, she seemed to refocus and return to our previous conversation. "So you wish to build up an army and return to your past of fighting, correct?"

"Yes, but my question was not about how to begin or organize my army. Rather, I was going to ask Peter about any claimed territory or just any large covens in the States. There's no fun in conquering an area when there's no opposition," he said, a look of competition gleaming in his eyes.

"I see. Well, I _can_ be of help to you. Keep in mind that, as I said, I haven't been in contact with anyone in probably two or three years. But last that I knew, there were two covens of unusual size. One located in northern Washington State and one in Denali, Alaska."

"And how many members of each clan?" he questioned.

"Do I look like I particularly care?" she asked, gesturing to her nomadic looks.

"No…I suppose not. But…where _are_ Peter and Charlotte? Their scent and presence was strong all along this trail," he gestured behind him, "but now I can barely smell them or sense their presence."

"Oh, you still wish to see Peter? Well, they're over there." She pointed towards our right. "I've already paid a little visit to them, but I'm sure that they're still there, at least for a little while. Perhaps you should hurry if you wish to have any words with them." With that, she suddenly took off, running past us through the forest.

"Well, she's not one for goodbyes," commented Laurent as James started walking quickly in the direction that Maria had said that Peter and Charlotte could be found.

I stepped out of the shade of a tree and into the sunlight, once again relishing the warmth of the sun. A soft breeze came from the west, gently lifting my filthy hair around my face. With the wind came a foreign, sweet scent, almost like incense. At that moment, I heard an agonized cry.

Victoria, Laurent, and I were running within fractions of a second. We came upon a small clearing with James kneeling over on his knees in the center. To James's right, a pile of lumpy objects were aflame, a thick and dark smoke coming off of it. The strange scent of incense seemed to be coming from the smoke. The ground was scattered with strange, misshapen, white sparkling rocks.

"That bitch!" James rasped, heaving a dry sob. Victoria approached him, coming up and laying her hands on his shoulders. He shook her off and stood, looking anywhere but at the blazing fire. "His head…it's missing." He took off into the forest. Laurent and I slowly walked into the center of the clearing and saw what James had seen.

Directly in front of me, I saw more of the glittering stones. Although indistinct at a first glance, a second look revealed what looked like part of a _hand_. Sick fascination ruled out over my disgust, so I leaned down to examine it. I reached out to touch it, but an extreme force sent me flying backwards into a tree, shaking it.

"_Don't you dare touch him_," James growled threateningly, looming over me with a glare. Him? I looked out over the clearing, only to see the millions of tiny 'rocks' slowly _moving_ towards the center of the clearing where a large 'rock' now lay.

"James, she doesn't understand. Leave her to me whilst you take care of Peter." Laurent had his hand on James's shoulder, trying to restrain him. James shoved him away and, with a fierce look of hatred, turned away from us and returned to the center of the meadow. He fell to his knees and looked down at the 'rock' in front of him.

A single word came out of his mouth in a tortured scream. "_Maria!"_

"What happened?" I whispered in fear.

"Apparently Maria, too, was tracking Peter. Only, her plans were of gaining revenge for abandoning her army many years ago," he explained, whispering back to me.

"And those…rocks…are…" I left off in question.

"Peter. She ripped him to shreds, only leaving his head whole so that he can feel pain. Eventually, those 'rocks', as you called them," he gestured to the pieces laying scattered around the field, "will rejoin and make him whole once again." After a minute, he spoke again. "Charlotte," he said even more softly, "was not so fortunate." He nodded towards the now smoking pile of ashes. "Maria ripped them both to shreds, but only killed Charlotte as a punishment to Peter. He'll most likely never recover from this."

Although hesitant to ask, I posed one last question. "So will James go after Maria and kill her now?"

"No. He'd never stand a chance. This has only made him more motivated to start an army. Except now, I think, he will not just plan the battle, but also participate. He wants to avenge Charlotte's death and Peter's pain. To do that, we will fly to Washington State and battle the clan there."

**A/N: Please, tell me what you think about what's happened! Thanks for reading!**


	15. Airport

**A/N: Sorry, but work, vacation, broken ankles, and hospital visits wreak havoc on fanfiction plans. That being said, thanks for sticking with me and this story. I'm nearly finished with chapter 16 and will be on to 17 shortly, so expect more frequent updates. :D**

**A special thanks to HeartStopsBeating for the new nicknames of "Newly Dead Girl" and "Mystery Boy". Look for those names in future chapters.**

APOV

While waiting for the plane to land, a second vision struck me. _The male that was with Bella, standing in the middle of a clearing…a pillar of dark smoke…The man falling to his knees and looking at a __**head**__ with a familiar face detached from its body…The man's tortured cry of a single name._ My vision changed. _Myself on an airplane. The scent of other vampires._ The vision flickered to another time, another setting. _Bella and her three companions, surrounded by thirty or more newborns, surrounding our home in Forks. _

The plane touched the ground.

* * *

EPOV

"So, when will Bella get here?" Jacob asked, sounding stressed. After explaining the situation to him, Alice, Jasper, and I had returned to our seats to wait out the flight. Alice had found that, when in close proximity to the wolf, she could not see any visions. The farther she moved away from him, the clearer the visions became.

"I told you that it isn't certain that she will even board a plane, much less a plane from this particular airport in Texas. It's just…a feeling I have, that she'll be here," Alice replied unsteadily, unsure of her predictions. "_If only I could get __**away**__ from the werewolf, I could see more!" _her thoughts shouted in frustration. I started to move closer to Jacob so that I could ask him to move away from Alice. "_No, Edward! Let Jasper take him to find something for him to eat. I don't think that the situation would improve if I were to leave you two alone."_ I saw of flash of one of her visions: the wolf and myself, crouched into battle stances and growling at one another in the middle of the airport.

I cleared my throat, more out of habit than out of need. "Jazz, would you mind going with Jacob in search of some sustenance for him?" He looked at me quizzically for a second, but then followed my gaze to Alice's frustrated expression.

"No problem," he said, moving at a human pace towards the werewolf. "What sort of food do you prefer?" he asked awkwardly as Jacob compliantly stood and walked off with my brother. I waited for them to move a distance away before speaking.

"Is that any better?"

"_Yes, but I'm still only getting flashes. It seems fairly definite that there will be at least two other vampires on our flight. I see myself catching their scent in all of my visions of the plane ride. That fact isn't changing."_

"Only two others?" I asked, hope fading from my voice. "It doesn't seem very likely that they would split up."

"_No, __**at least**__ two other vampires will be there. I just can't tell!" _She growled softly in irritation. Squeezing her eyes shut, she focused on her visions, sorting through to find any hints of who would be on the flight with us. _"How's Jazz doing, with all of these humans?"_ she asked, distracting me from watching her visions through her thoughts.

"He's alright, but he's getting thirsty. We should feed soon. He isn't the only one that all of this exposure is affecting," I pointed out, looking at her eyes that were darkening from gold to black.

"_Yes, I know, but we don't have time now. We need to board imminently. Could you please go find them? I'll continue to look for some glimpse of Bella_." I left Alice sitting in a chair by the gate, and traced Jasper's thoughts to him like a homing beacon.

"_Has she seen anything?_" he asked me mentally.

"No, not yet. The vampires on the plane are consistent, though," I explained.

"What'd I miss?" Jacob mumbled, shoving one hot dog into his mouth with one hand while holding two more in his other one. I winced, both at the sight of him eating and at the smell of the vulgar processed human 'food'.

"Nothing. We need to go now," I stated curtly, waiting for him to follow me back to the gate.

"No!" he exclaimed, having swallowed the chewed-up food. "You can't leave me out of the loop, here. Bella's was my _friend_, not my _dinner!_" I glowered at him, resisting the urge to either snap his neck or to grab him and drag him back to Alice. Before I could take either action, Alice slid in between us, her nose wrinkling at the intense stench of the dog so close to her.

"Here is _not_ the place for this," she hissed. Eyes darting towards her husband, she softly shoved us apart. Waves of calmness emanating from Jasper cooled down the tension before any humans could notice the almost-fight. "Now, the plane is about to leave. So, if we want to have any chance of recovering Bella from the other coven, I suggest we move." Alice took off, leading the way with Jacob following right behind her after glaring at me. Jasper dropped back to walk with me.

"_I think we should call the others before we board. Let them know what's happening."_ In response, I took my cell phone out of my pocket and made a conference call to Emmett and Carlisle as we walked.

"What's going on, Son?" Carlisle was the first to respond.

"Yeah, what's happenin' on your end, Eddie? We haven't seen any sign of Bella here." Even though he could be a real pain-in-the-ass at times, I realized that I really missed having my bear of a brother around.

Skipping any pleasantries, I began with the pertinent information. "Based upon Alice's visions, we can surmise that approximately a week to a week and a half after she finished turning, Bella joined a coven of three nomads. The coven then traveled from New York to Texas, where they then met up with Maria. Shortly thereafter, they found Peter in pieces and Charlotte's smoking remains."

"How is Jasper handing this?" Carlisle asked, concerned. My eyes flickered to his face, but he stared ahead impassively. His thoughts were equally blank, except for one thought.

"_Now is not the time for grief. I will handle this once we've finished what we've set out to do."_

"He is focused on the task at hand. But that was not the worst of the news. Bella's coven leader plans on organizing a newborn army for the purpose of fighting our family for our territory." Carlisle's sharp intake of breath was the only reply for several long seconds.

"Bring it on, fuckers! We can take 'em any day!" I could practically hear Carlisle roll his eyes at Emmett's bravado.

"You may be stronger than most, Son, but the seven of us against an army of--"

"--thirty--", I put in.

"...thirty newborns, plus the other three and Bella do not make for good odds. It's too short of notice to ask any other covens for aid, and asking anything of Peter is absolutely out of the question," Carlisle reasoned.

"When is this all going down, anyway?" asked Emmett.

"Alice's vision is hazy, but is seems as though they, too, are in transit to Forks. Jasper, Alice, Jacob, and I are ready to board a flight back to Forks."

"Jacob?" Carlisle questioned.

"Yes," I sighed. The dog caused nothing but trouble for me. "We picked up a stray dog on the way. Literally. Alice smelled him on our flight and confronted him. He says that he knows Bella and that he, too, was trying to find her."

"Are you saying that you're traveling with a _werewolf_?" Emmett yelped incredulously.

"Pretty much," I stated, resigned.

"This is a...surprise. I'm proud that none of you haven't, well, killed him," Carlisle said bluntly.

"Honestly, it has been a struggle not to. Trust me," I growled in frustration. A quizzical look from a passing human caused me to return my gaze to the floor and speak more quietly. "I'll call you when we get home, but I suggest that the rest of you return, too.

"Alright, Bro. I'll pass all this on to Esme. In the meantime, good luck with the dog," Emmett chuckled as he hung up.

"Edward, never give up hope. I'll call Tanya and ask her if her clan would be willing to help us. And please remember, _dogs are man's best friend, not food,"_ Carlisle joked, lightening the conversation.

"I'll try to keep that in mind," I said wryly. Hanging up, I followed Jasper down the jet bridge and into the plane where a stocky blonde male flight attendant greeted us.

"Hello, thank you for choosing US Airways. May I see your tickets, please?" he asked exuberantly. Alice reached into her designer purse and pulled out three pristine tickets. Meanwhile, Jacob dug into his back pocket and extracted a crumpled one.

"There you go, Gabe," she said, noting his name tag. After glancing at the tickets briefly, Gabe directed us to our seats in first class. As Jacob stepped forward to hand over his ticket, Gabe's eyes widened a fraction as he checked out the dog's body.

"Oooh, your seat is in first class, too! I'm assigned there for this flight!" Wisely, neither Jasper nor I said anything about Alice's having bought a first class ticket for the wolf.

_"Say anything about it, and you'll make the flight attendant suspicious. Besides that, you'll have a pissy puppy on your hands,"_ she threatened.

As we walked away, I heard Gabe whistle and whisper, "I'd _totally_ tap that!" to himself.

"_He wasn't referring to you, was he?"_ Jasper asked, knowing how short my temper has been.

"No, not to either of us," I muttered, looking forward to seeing how Jacob would deal with his new admirer.

* * *

Shortly after takeoff, Gabe returned, bearing drinks. Approaching Jacob first, he asked, "Anything I can get--or do--for you, Sir?" Jacob glanced up, a look of surprise on his face.

_"Did he just...no, he didn't seriously just offer to...why me and not those pale, freakishly handsome leeches?" "_I, uh, no thanks. I'm good. But thanks." I had to admit, he did a fairly good job at covering his emotions.

"Ignorance is bliss, no?" I tried to joke after Gabe walked over to other passengers. Jake just glared at me in reply.

The first hour of the flight passed by like that: Gabe shamelessly flirted with Jacob, much to the dog's chagrin. I listened, amused by Jacob's uncomfortable situation, but Alice and Jasper just sat side-by-side, looking into each other's eyes. When Alice and Jasper had first joined our family, I had felt as though I was intruding on a personal moment by being near them when they did that. Now, it just made me sad to see them. Never had I ever really known love, and the prospects of that changing weren't too great at this point.

_"We've been flying for just over an hour now. Most women have been to the bathroom at least once. To keep up appearances, I'll go in for a minute,"_ Alice explained, standing up and sliding past Jasper, who had determinedly sat beside his wife, leaving me to sit beside the dog. Unsurprisingly, the dog had claimed the window seat.

I returned my gaze to the television screen at the front of the cabin. The in-flight video currently showing was "Marley & Me", which I continued to watch more for distraction than for entertainment purposes. Jacob, on the other hand, was avidly watching the film. I looked forward to seeing his reaction to the scene when Marley, a kindred spirit of his, died. Sighing, I realized that watching Jacob might be the most interesting thing to do during our flight.

**A/N: This wasn't intended to be a funny story, but I couldn't help but put in a few little things, haha. Reviews? Please? I love you all!**


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